Technical Support Resources
Technical Support Resources
manifold.net products are supported by email conversations with tech@manifold.net ... there are no telephones in our tech support or engineering departments.
The fastest way to resolve technical support questions is to consult the user documentation for your product. Most technical support queries are resolved with a one-line answer citing a Help file topic.
The second-fastest way to get questions answered is to check for obvious answers on this page or within the technical support FAQ for your manifold.net product support site (use links on the navigation bar at left) on this website. Over 90% of technical support queries may be answered by reference to the FAQ.
The third-fastest way if the answer you seek is not in the Help file or in the FAQ is to send an email to technical support complete with supporting information as requested below. During Pacific time business hours, most tech support email will get a response the same day.
The slowest way to get an answer is to email sales or tech support without providing details This forces tech support to send a reply asking for the technical details listed below, and to then wait for a response from you.
Other alternatives: For peer-to-peer support, consider discussing your issue with your colleagues on the comp.infosystems.gis newsgroup or post it on the Manifold-L discussion list. www.DirectionsMag.com , the premier GIS "ezine" has graciously agreed to host the Manifold-L list. Please visit http://lists.directionsmag.com/discussion/list_info.php?f=29 for instructions on joining the list. We encourage all Manifold users to participate in this list.
Click on the Product links on the navigation bar at left to jump to that product's Support Page.
General Tech Support Advice: Eliminate Obvious Problems First
 |
Do you have a Microsoft browser installed? Almost all manifold.net software requires the previous installation of a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. Installing IE (even if you choose to use Mosaic, Opera, Netscape/AOL or other browser as your default browser) is the best way to make sure your Windows system is up-to-date with all the latest, necessary Windows .dlls. |
| If installing on NT, do you have Administrator privileges when first installing the program? | |
| On NT, have you re-installed the program under each user name that is to use the program? | |
| During installation, make sure to exit all other applications and background processes, including all "virus protection" software and network trace or network snooping software. Some "virus protectors" do such a great job of protecting the system they end up interfering with installations. Prevent such software from launching when you start the system and then reboot to be sure no weird processes are running in background. | |
| Install the latest Service Pack issued for your manifold.net program, if any have been issued. |
Service Packs
From time to time, manifold.net releases Service Packs (SPs) for manifold.net products. Service Packs fix bugs and add new features and other improvements in between major releases. Service Packs are free to download, but they require the product that is being serviced. Whenever a new SP is issued, it will be cumulative in that it incorporates all fixes released in previous SPs. If your manifold.net product has had an SP issued, please download it and install it before contacting tech support.
| Manifold System Release 5.00: | No service pack has been
issued.
|
| Manifold System Release 4.50: | Service Pack 4 , Hot Fix 1 to Service Pack 4 - See the Manifold 4.50 Support Page. |
| Manifold Database Commander: | Service Pack 1 is available by email from Tech Support. See the Database Commander Support Page. |
| Manifold 3D View Studio: | No service pack has been issued. |
If
neither your product's Help system nor the FAQ for that product in the
product support page answer your question or solve your problem, do not hesitate to contact
the manifold.net tech support team by emailing us at tech@manifold.net Email is the
fastest way to get tech support from manifold.net. Response time is
normally less than 24 hours and during regular business hours (PST) will often be less
than an hour. Our technical staff often works late hours and on weekends and will
from time to time check the Tech Support inbox for questions; however, this is an
exception and email tech support should not be counted upon during weekends.
Note: your purchase of manifold.net products does not include tech support services. All tech support services provided by manifold.net at no charge are provided on a voluntary basis as a promotional program. It is possible that future offerings of tech support services may be made at an additional cost.
Long experience supporting complex hardware and software products indicates that electronic mail is an extremely efficient way of resolving complex technical problems at minimum cost. It is not as instantly gratifying as on-call voice line support, but it is very efficient, especially since it is self-documenting as to problem reports and suggested solutions.
One major benefit for you of email tech support is that your letter to us may be forwarded by the tech support engineer reading it to as many people as necessary to answer your question. This allows us to deploy our entire organization, if need be, as a "parallel processor" to solve your problem. It also makes it easier to update documentation to prevent errors, improve feature sets, and to involve our developmental programmers in customer engineering and tech support. All this results in a better manifold.net product for you.
Information We Need to Help You
When writing manifold.net on a tech support issue, be sure to include the following:
The specific
manifold.net product and version you are using, including which manifold.net
service pack has been applied, if any.
Precise operating system version and any operating system service packs applied
Your machine configuration and amount of RAM
A list of any other programs that were operating
A description of the problem
The data set or map you were using.
(Most Important!) If you can do so, provide a specific sequence of actions that reproduce the problem using only maps or data sets from the manifold.net product CD.
Please do NOT email large files (> 200K) to tech support. If a sample file is requested, Tech Support will provide upload instructions.
We realize that most people don't contact Technical Support unless they have
a problem. We'll try to make the experience as painless as possible for you.
Don't hesitate to contact us if the documentation is in error or unclear, or if you have found a bug or wish to make a suggestion, or would like some advice on using our products. Customer email is always welcome. Technical Support is here to serve you!
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